Wheelbarrow



(Nd Model.) v

J. ANNIN.

WHEELBARROW.

No. 399,723. Patented Mar. 19, 1889.

W/ TIYE S856 JOSEPH ANNIN, OF BROOKLYN, NEWV YORK.

WH EELBARROW.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 399,723, dated March19, 1889.

Application filed May 29, 1888. Serial No. 275,472. (No model.)

T0 66 1071,0121 it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH ANNIN, of Brooklyn, Kings county, New York,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Me tallic\Vheelbarrows or Trucks, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to that class of barrows which are constructed witha sheet-metal tray mounted on two tubular frame-bars, between the frontends of which the wheel is journaled, while the rear and divergent endsof the bars form the handles of the barrow.

My improvement applies more especially to barrows of this kind which areconstructed to dump sidewise, as is the case with the common canal orcontractors barrows; and the object of my invention is to greatlystrengthen the sheet-metal tray and enable it to better stand thestrains of loading and dumping without buckling or tearing the sheetmetal; and to this end my invention may be briefly stated to consist instrengtheningbands secured or riveted to the sheet-metal tray andextending longitudinally on the bottom thereof, at the center of thesame, between the han dle-bars, and also at each d 11 mping side of thetray between the handle-bars and the edge of the tray, which bars impartgreat strength and rigidity to the tray at critical points withoutmaterially increasing its weight.

My invention also consists in some minor features in connection with themain feature above outlined, as hereinafter fully set forth and claimed.

In the drawingsannexed, Figure 1 represents a side elevation of myimproved barrow; and Fig. 2 gives an end elevation thereof, with thehandlebars cut off or in section close to the tray. Fig. 3 is aninverted plan view of the tray.

1n the drawings, A indicates the tray, B B the tubular frame or handlebars, and O the wheel of the barrow, which are formed, arranged, andconnected in about the usual wellknown manner common to barrows of thisclass.

The tray A, as shown, is made of strong sheet-iron in a dished or flathopper shape, which is lowest at the sides, as best seen in Figs. 1 and2, to adapt the barrow to dump sidewise by tilting the barrow to oneside in the well-known way. The end of; the hoppershaped tray next thewheel is the highest, as

shown best in. Fig. 1, to prevent the contents from fouling with thewheel in loading or dumping, and the opposite end of the tray near thehandles is about one-third less in height than the wheel end, as shownin Figs. 1 and 2, which is about the usual shape adopted in this classof barrows. Now, upon the under side of the tray two strong metallicribs or bars, 0 c, are bolted or riveted, which bars extend transverselyon the tray, as shown, just at the angle where the high diverging endsof the tray spring from the dished middle, as well shown in Figs. 2 and011 the ends of these bars 0 are secured the cast or malleable ironclips (Z d, (see Figs. 2 and 1,) in whiclrthe tubular frame-bars B B arereceived and held, as best seen in Fig. 2, which features require nofurther description, as they form no part of my present invention, butare of the usual construction and are clearly illustrated in thedrawings. The tub ular bars B converge toward each other at the frontend, on which the axle-boxes f f are clamped, as seen in Figs. 1 and 2,in which the wheel C is journaled in the usual manner, while theopposite or handle ends of the bars are diverged sufficient] y to permitthe wor] man to stand between and grasp the handle ends in the usualmanner, as will be understood from Figs. 1 and 2.

Referring to Figs 1 and 2, g are V-shaped metal legs secured to thefront and rear clips cl (1, on which the barrow is supported when atrest, and h is a brace between the legs, all of which are ofsubstantially the usual eonstruction.

Referring again to Figs. 1, 2, and 3, it will be noted that the tray isbound with a marginal band of metal, a, which extends all around thesame and is dulybolted or riveted thereto, and thus greatly stiifens thesheetmetal tray and strengthens or arms its otherwise weak andvulnerable edge against the various shocks, strains, and frictions ofloading and dumping. It will therefore be seen that the handlebars B B,underlying the tray about half-way between its middle and the dumpingsides or edges, together with the marginal binding 2' on the edges, actto support and stiffen the tray at important points;

and heretofore these were the only points of the tray which werespecially supported or stiffened. According to my improvement, however,I further brace and strengthen the tray by a strong central or spinalbar, 7c,running longitudinally under the tray midway between thehandle-bars, and also by two side braces or ribbars, m m, half-waybetween the handle-bars and 'the marginal bands 71 on the dumping-edges.These bars 70 m are of course bent to conform to the parts of the trayon which they are superposed and are firmly bolted or riveted thereto,as shown. The transverse clip-bars c are bent at the middle to overliethe central or spinal bar, 7c, and are riveted at the point of crossing,as shown best in Fig. 3, thus forming points of great strength under thebottom of the barrow. The marginal binding-bar is also bent to overliethe ends of the central and side bars, 70 m m, and is rivited at theoverlapping points, thus greatly strengthening the tray at severalpoints around the rim. It will now be seen that the middle bar, it, actsas. a spine or backbone to the middle of the bottom of the tray midwaybetween the handle-bars at a point which requires special strength, butwhich has been heretofore comparatively weak and not speciallystrengthened or supported; but it will be seen that the spinal brace orbar 70 will enable the tray to effectually resist the central crushingand buckling strain of an even load when the barrow is filled andmoved,'while the side-braces, m m, will enable the tray to effectuallyresist the strains of this load when suddenly shifted to the side and(lumped, and thus prevent the tray from becoming buckled or strained onthe dumping-edges by the continued shocks of such shifts and dumps. Onthe other hand, in the old construction, where the sheet metal is leftentirely unsupported between the marginal band on the dumping-edge andbars B B, the metal is very likely to become buckled and strained andsoon worn out at these weak and critical points by the continued shocksand strains of dumping. It therefore follows that by means of thecentral and side re-enforcing bars, k m m, I can actually make the trayof sheet metal of less than the usual thickness, and yet produce a trayof much greater strength, stiffness, and durability without increasingthe weight of the barrow, and at little or no greater cost, which areimportant considerations.

hat I claim is 1. In a wheelbarrow or truck of substantially thedescribed kind, the combination, with a sheet-metal tray, A, mounted onhandle-bars B and adapted to dump sidewise, of the longitudinalbrace-bars m m, fixed to the bottom of the tray on the dumping sidesbetween the handle-bars and its dumping edge, substantially as shown anddescribed.

2. A metallic wheelbarrow-tray, A, formed with the central longitudinalbar, it, and longitudinal side-bars, m m, substantially as and for thepurpose set forth.

3. The metallic wheelborrow-tray, A, formed with the marginal binding2', central longitudinal brace-bar, 7c, and side longitudinalbrace-bars, on m, arranged 011 the under side of the tray and operatingsubstantially as and for the purpose set forth.

4. The combination, with the tray of a wheelbarrow, of the centrallongitudinal bar, 70, and the transverse clip-bars c c, the one bent tooverlap the other, substantially as shown and described.

5. In a metallic wheelbarrow, the combination, with the sheet-metal trayA, of the handle-bars B B, secured to and underlying the same, themarginal binding 7 the central bar, 7t, secured longitudinally to thetray between the handle-bars and the side bars, on m, secured to thedumping sides of the tray between the marginal band and the handle-bars,substantially as herein shown and described.

JOSEPH ANNIN.

